The United Kingdom's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) amended its travel advisory to Libya on Thursday, advising all British nationals to leave Benghazi immediately as well as to avoid travel at all to some parts of the country.
The FCO said that they were aware of "a specific, imminent threat to Westerners in Benghazi", claiming that there is a 'high threat' of 'indiscriminate' terrorist attacks and also a 'threat of kidnapping'.
The advisory update also said:
"Following French military intervention in Mali, there is a possibility of retaliatory attacks targeting Western interests in the region. We advise vigilance."
Germany and the Netherlands joined the UK and urged their citizens to leave Benghazi without delay.
Libya's deputy interior minister, Abdullah Massoud however insisted that such a response to security problems in Benghazi was unwarranted, and told the BBC that such actions would just create instability in the region.
